1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parts alignment device for aligning chip-like parts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Description will be given below about a conventional parts alignment device. The conventional parts alignment device is constituted by a square-pole-like parts storage chamber 1, a rotary plate 3 provided closely to a wall 2 of the storage chamber 1, a magnet 4 buried near the circumference of the rotary plate 3, a parts acceptance portion 6 provided in a position corresponding to this magnet 4 from a side wall 5 adjacent to the wall 2 toward the downstream, and a parts passageway 7 connected to the outlet of the acceptance portion 6 and provided toward the downstream, as shown in FIG. 15.
Description will be given about the operation of the parts alignment device configured thus. The reference numeral 8 represents chip-like parts having a magnetic-substance electrode and stored in the storage chamber 1. With rotation of the rotary plate 3 in the direction A, these parts 8 are attracted and carried upward by the magnet 4. Colliding with the wall 5, the parts 8 are separated from the magnet 4 and accepted by the acceptance portion 6. This acceptance portion 6 accepts only parts 8 aligned in a predetermined direction. Here, the parts 8 which are not accepted by the acceptance portion 6 fall down to the lower portion of the storage chamber 1, and wait to be attracted by the magnet 4 again. On the other hand, the parts 8 which are accepted by the acceptance portion 6 are already aligned, and fed out to the passageway 7 as they are in the state where the parts 8 are aligned.
As a technique similar to this, for example, there is that which is disclosed in Japanese Model-Utility Unexamined Publication No. Hei-5-77133.
However, in such a conventional configuration, the parts 8 attracted by the magnet 4 face various directions. In this state, the parts 8 collide with the wall 5 and are accepted by the acceptance portion 6, so that the parts 8 still look in various directions. It is considered that most of the parts 8 fall down to the lower portion of the storage chamber 1. It is therefore supposed that the number of the parts 8 aligned in the acceptance portion 6 is considerably small. As is understood in this example, the conventional technique has a problem that the speed to align the parts 8 is slow.